Children aged 31/2 to 61/2Â¿years viewed pictures of common objects presented either once or three times on one of two consecutive days. A different hand puppet was used to presen... [more]

Children aged 31/2 to 61/2Â¿years viewed pictures of common objects presented either once or three times on one of two consecutive days. A different hand puppet was used to present the pictures on each day, providing both perceptual and temporal cues to source. At test, old (studied) and new (non-studied) pictures were presented for item recognition and source identification. Results showed that both item and source accuracy were higher for older (MÂ¿=Â¿5; 9Â¿years) than younger children (MÂ¿=Â¿4; 6Â¿years). Significant interactions between Age and Day of study were found for both item and source accuracy. For younger children, accuracy was higher for pictures studied on Day 1 than Day 2 (significant for source identification but not item recognition), whereas older children showed the opposite pattern: Higher accuracy for Day 2 than Day 1 (significant for item recognition but not source identification). Results are interpreted with respect to proactive interference and response bias. The utility of signal detection theory measures in determining the basis of age differences in performance of source identification is discussed. Copyright

Current theoretical thinking about dual processes in recognition relies heavily on the measurement operations embodied within the process dissociation procedure. We critically eva... [more]

Current theoretical thinking about dual processes in recognition relies heavily on the measurement operations embodied within the process dissociation procedure. We critically evaluate the ability of this procedure to support this theoretical enterprise. We show that there are alternative processes that would produce a rough invariance in familiarity (a key prediction of the dual-processing approach) and that the process dissociation procedure does not have the power to differentiate between these alternative possibilities. We also show that attempts to relate parameters estimated by the process dissociation procedure to subjective reports (remember-know judgments) cannot differentiate between alternative dual-processing models and that there are problems with some of the historical evidence and with obtaining converging evidence. Our conclusion is that more specific theories incorporating ideas about representation and process are required.

Research into the dynamics of alcohol use has traditionally focused on etiological factors, particularly on the reasons an individual engages in drinking behaviours. Although reas... [more]

Research into the dynamics of alcohol use has traditionally focused on etiological factors, particularly on the reasons an individual engages in drinking behaviours. Although reasons for the permanent cessation of drinking have also been well documented, little is known about the reasons for the episodic cessation of alcohol use that is characteristic of nonproblematic drinking patterns. The purpose of the present study was to develop and validate a questionnaire designed to monitor the reasons an individual temporarily stops drinking at the end of a drinking episode. A 23-item Quitting Time for Alcohol Questionnaire (QTAQ) was developed and distributed to a community based sample of 252 participants. Factor analysis revealed three conceptually distinct factors, QTAQ-IS (Internal Status) QTAQ-AA (Avoidance Adherence) and QTAQ-IC (Immediate Context), which accounted for 36.3% of the variance. Cross-validation on a large sample of undergraduate students (N = 479) confirmed the three-factor solution (accounting for 33% of the variance). Cronbach's alpha coefficients for the factors ranged from .74 to .81 for the community sample and from .62 to .78 for the student sample. The validity of the emergent factors was demonstrated by their ability to classify participants according to self-reported alcohol consumption and alcohol dependence criteria, and also by their significant predictive relationship with these criteria. The present findings suggest that the QTAQ is a useful instrument both for research and for use in clinical practice.

McKay PJ, Chalmers KA, Karayanidis F, Sanday D, 'Do all components of executive function follow the same path? An investigation of the development of working memory, shifting, and response inhibition during childhood', Combined Abstracts of 2010 Australian Psychology Conferences, Melbourne, Vic (2010) [E3]

20111 grants / $30,000

Impaired memory is the most significant symptom of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Recent research has found that some patients with AD are able to remember music, and that listening to music or presenting information in a song can improve memory. This project will investigate memory for music and the use of music as a memory aid. In particular, we will examine how memory for music relates to other thinking skills, specifically other forms of memory, and how music can help patients with AD remember practical everyday information such as names of people and directions to a place

Research Supervision

Current Supervision

Commenced

Research Title / Program / Supervisor Type

2012

Evaluating Mood and Cognition Throughout the Stages of Natural Menopause Using the STRAW Classification System of Reproductive Aging.Psychology, Faculty of Science and Information TechnologyPrincipal Supervisor

The Impact of Environmental Factors on Reading Acquisition in Children with Working Memory DeficitsPsychology, Faculty of Science and Information TechnologyCo-Supervisor

2009

Fluid intelligence and its role in the 21st CenturyPsychology, Faculty of Science and Information TechnologyPrincipal Supervisor

2008

Performance on the Task-Switching Paradigm in Childhood: The Contribution of Executive Function Components and Relation to Problem BehaviourPsychology, Faculty of Science and Information TechnologyCo-Supervisor

2008

The development of Executive Function during childhoodPsychology, Faculty of Science and Information TechnologyPrincipal Supervisor

2007

Long-Term Memory Impairment in Schizophrenia : Investigating the Deficit and its Remediation using MnemonicsPsychology, Faculty of Science and Information TechnologyCo-Supervisor

Processes underlying recognition memory for high and very low frequency wordsPsychology, University of NewcastlePrincipal Supervisor

2013

Are two processes too many? A study of the behavioural and electrophysiological processes involved in recognition memoryPsychology, University of NewcastlePrincipal Supervisor

2012

Source Monitoring for Pictures: An Exploration of Factors which Affect PerformancePsychology, Faculty of Science and Information TechnologyPrincipal Supervisor

2012

Predictors and Mediators of Mental Health Decline in Older Australian WomenPsychology, University of NewcastleCo-Supervisor

2011

Working Memory and Fluid Intelligence: The Role of Processing Speed?Psychology, University of NewcastleSole Supervisor

2010

Memory for distracters: An effect of Source Constrained Retrieval or Level of Performance?Psychology, University of NewcastleSole Supervisor

2010

Effects of Training on Remember-Know and Confidence Ratings for Very Low- and High-Frequency WordsPsychology, University of NewcastleSole Supervisor

2009

External Source Monitoring: The Effects of Intrinsic and Extrinsic Source and the Role of Working MemoryPsychology, University of NewcastleSole Supervisor

2009

Regularities of Recognition Memory: An Examination of the Pseudoword Effect, the Structural Regularity Hypothesis, and the Neighbourhood Density Mirror EffectPsychology, Faculty of Science and Information TechnologyPrincipal Supervisor

2009

Improving Adult Visual Source Memory Performance: The Role of Encoding Instructions and Binding Strategy Psychology, University of NewcastleSole Supervisor

2007

Do Global Metamemory Judgments Predict Recognition Memory for Psychology, University of NewcastleSole Supervisor

2007

Effects of Word Frequency and Orthographical Distinctiveness on Recognition MemoryPsychology, University of NewcastleSole Supervisor

2007

Span tasks and their relationship with long-term memoryPsychology, University of NewcastleSole Supervisor

2007

Recognition Memory for Familiar and Unfamiliar Words: Effect of Word Frequency and EncodingPsychology, University of NewcastleSole Supervisor

2006

The Effects of Phonological Encoding on Recognition Memory for Words and NonwordsPsychology, University of NewcastleSole Supervisor

2006

The effect of test-delay and age-of-acquisition on the development of recognition memory in childrenPsychology, University of NewcastleSole Supervisor

2006

The development of episodic memory in early childhood: Long versus mixed test delayPsychology, University of NewcastleSole Supervisor

2006

The effect of presentation frequency on recognition and list discrimination judgments for novel pictures and facesPsychology, University of NewcastleSole Supervisor

2006

The effect of study duration on recognition and list discrimination of pictures and novel facesPsychology, University of NewcastleSole Supervisor

2006

Episodic memory development in childhood: Integrating information from multiple contextsPsychology, University of NewcastleSole Supervisor

2005

Using the recognition and list discrimination paradigms to investigate episodic memory for novel faces and picturesPsychology, University of NewcastleSole Supervisor

2005

The Pseudoword Effect in Recognition Memory: Effects of Word Frequency and Study Duration.Psychology, University of NewcastleSole Supervisor

2005

Background Context Effects on Memory for Faces and Occupation Labels in an Associative Recognition TaskPsychology, University of NewcastleSole Supervisor

2005

Novel Faces or Novel Places? The Conditions Required for Environmental Context Effects in Face RecognitionPsychology, University of NewcastleSole Supervisor

2005

Recognition Memory for Very Low-Frequency Words and Nonwords: The Effect of Three-Phase Experimental Designs and Word CharacteristicsPsychology, University of NewcastleSole Supervisor

2004

Phonemic Similarity in Long-Term Episodic MemoryPsychology, University of NewcastleCo-Supervisor

2003

Pre-exposure of novel faces presented with a name versus other biographical information: Effects on episodic recognitionPsychology, University of NewcastleSole Supervisor

2003

The role of meaning and familiarity in recognition of very rare wordsPsychology, University of NewcastleSole Supervisor

2003

Effects of multiple study contexts on false recognition of picturesPsychology, University of NewcastleSole Supervisor

2002

The basis of frequency and recency judgements during childhoodPsychology, University of NewcastleSole Supervisor

2002

Age Related Differences in Young Children's Perfomance of Episodic Memory TasksPsychology, University of NewcastleSole Supervisor